Washington. Washington is a beautiful state to live in – well, more so the west coast of it (sorry Easterners!). I was born in Spokane, WA, where my family is today, but I didn’t really grow up there. We moved around a bit because of my dad being in the air force throughout that time (we lived in Alaska, Texas and Florida though I only really remember Texas). We were briefly in Spokane when I was in first grade and came back when I started high school.
After going to Spokane Falls Community College for 2 years, I transferred to University of Washington. I was hooked. Seattle is beautiful. We have mountains off all around us with Mount Rainier to the south of us. On a clear day, I can see its beauty going across I-90 when going to and from work. We then have the Puget Sound and Lake Washington surrounding us. Just pretty! Then there’s Greenlake to walk around. I can go on and on about places to see in Seattle (Fremont Troll, Seattle Center with the Space Needle, Woodland Park Zoo, Alki Beach, and our favorite (because it is close to us ), Richmond Beach Park, etc.).
Seattle is known for raining and while it does rain a lot, on a sunny day – it is spectacular to live here. The temperature is just right for me most of the time. Not too much snow and not too much heat. Perfect.
Spokane is nice too – Riverfront Park is really nice. And there are many beautiful places to look at along I-90 (Snoqualmie Falls) and other highways in WA – especially the North Cascades Highway. Then, of course, there is Leavenworth! Then down south is Mount St. Helens (I lived in Spokane at the time of the eruption in 1980 – we had TONS of ash) and Vancouver (just a bridge away from Portland, OR).
How about you? Have you been to Washington? What beautiful places are there where you live that I absolutely must visit when I come there?
It's All About Me 
You’re 120 % right that the I-90 corridor is filled with beauty. In fact, parts of it are gorgeous. But I don’t agree that Snoqualmie Falls is one of the more beautiful places. I’ll try to make a case without denigrating The Falls too much.
First, the trail is unbelievably popular, and it’s good that people are getting outdoors to see nature and stretch their legs, but this means that solitude is hard to come by. I find all the buildings at the top of the waterfall to be a little out of place on a hike like this, but that’s a matter of personal taste.
Here are some of the places along I-90 that I prefer to Snoqualmie Falls. For the most part, I’ll only list stuff that’s similar in length and difficulty.
(1) Franklin Falls is a short and gorgeous hike, about a mile each way, and mostly on flat ground. You take exit 47, then follow FS road 58 a few miles, until the parking lot and trailhead. The hike mostly follows Denny Creek; it starts off at the water level, and you can wade in the summer, then hugs the top of a chasm, before it goes back down to the creek at the waterfall. The creek drops about 75 feet, and it’s lovely.
(2) The Denny Creek Trail leaves from almost the same place. Keekwulee Falls is further than the bottom of Snoqualmie Falls, but it’s glorious on a sunny day, and if you haven’t been here, you need to.
(3) Gold Creek Pond is a one-mile loop, almost perfectly flat, around a nice little pond below Rampart Ridge. It’s a great snow shoe this time of year, and a very pleasant hike in the summer.
(4) Change Creek is a little waterfall, that can be seen from the road off exit 38. You can hike about 2/3 mile here, before you reach the Iron Horse Trail. (You can also do the Twin Falls hike from here, and the Olallie State Park river walk.)
(5) Mason Lake, aka the Ira Spring Trail, is longer (8 miles round trip) and more difficult (~3,500 feet elevation gain?) than any of the others, but your jaw will drop at the mountain views and the wild flowers. Once the snow melts…
There are more – Annette Lake is hugely popular, Granite Mountain has amazing views – but these are the easier ones that jump immediately to mind, and that I recommend to people pretty often.
I miss Washington and the rain and the GREEN! And the Indian Summers… those beautiful and warm September days! Bumbershoot in Seattle Center! One of my favorite photos of our eldest is when she was 4 months old on my mom’s lap! *sigh* And the Sound and the Islands…. okay… now I am homesick for the NorthWest! (I went to college at Whitworth in Spokane)
Well… just hopping by from the A to Z
Here is my A to Z Challenge. I hope you stop by!